The Game of Life
by Tigergirl
Summary: Everyone is busy this summer, leaving Joey all to his lonesome. That is until a cousin comes to town and turns his life upside down. It becomes even worse when the cousin befriends a younger sibling of a certain CEO and rival. Life will never be the same.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** The Game of Life

**Author:** Tigergirl

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. I claim ownership of the original character, Joel.

**Summary:** Everyone is busy this summer, leaving Joey all to his lonesome. That is until a cousin comes to town and turns his life upside down. It becomes even worse when the cousin befriends a younger sibling of a certain CEO and rival. Life will never be the same.

**WARNING: THIS IS MY FIRST TIME WRITING A YU-GI-OH FAN FIC. THE AMOUNT OF FEEDBACK I GET AND THE QUALITY OF SAID FEEDBACK WILL DETERMINE IF I CONTINUE.**

CHAPTER ONE

Joey groaned for about the hundredth time in the last five minutes. Summer had just started so he should be overjoyed that he was free from school. Unfortunately, all of his friends were busy for most of the summer. Even Tristan was busy as Hell with a full-time summer job. This would be another summer where he would not be working which gave him almost nothing to do.

The blonde duelist entered the park where he found a bench to plop down on. Rather than sitting down, Joey chose to just lay out on it. He stared up at the sky watching the clouds pass by.

"This summer is gonna suck. Even Yugi is gonna be gone for most of the summer," Joey groaned.

He was still trying to figure out what he was going to do for two months off of school. He could volunteer down at the animal shelter again, but that would get old after two weeks. Joey closed his eyes with a groan.

He heard footsteps walking along the sidewalk and fully expected them to keep on walking. However, he was surprised when the footsteps got louder as they approached the bench he was on. Suddenly, he felt someone standing over him. He let out a rough grunt.

"Move along, won't ya?" Joey growled.

"Your manners suck, Joey," stated a familiar voice.

Joey's eyes bolted open and his gaze flew up to the person standing next to him. The teenager standing there was a short female with short blonde hair and bright green eyes. She wore an old pair of dark blue jeans torn at the knees, a white shirt streaked with several lines of color, and a dark green military jacket. There was a pair of dog tags hanging low around her neck.

Joey was on his feet in a flash and pulled the younger girl into his arms.

"Cousin Joel!" Joey exclaimed, lifting the lithe body up off the ground in a tight hug.

"Joey…can't…breathe!" the girl gasped.

Joey quickly placed her back down and let go. He reached up and ruffled the other teen's hair which earned him a slap to his hand.

"Whatcha doin' here, Joel?" Joey asked, a big grin plastered on his face.

Joel shook her head with a laugh.

"Looking for you, Joey. You know this is the _fifth_ place I've looked. I was about ready to go back to home base and say screw this," Joel replied.

Joey let out a laugh.

"I mean whatcha doin' here in Domino. Shouldn't you be in the good ol' US of A?" Joey asked.

Joel shook her head again with a big grin on her face.

"Dude, I'm working here for the summer!" Joel exclaimed.

It might have been a mistake to tell her taller and much stronger cousin that. He swept her off her feet again and swung her around before finally placing her back down.

"That's awesome, cuz! Where are ya gonna be stayin'?" Joey asked.

"The condo, duh. And you're staying with me," she replied.

"Huh?"

Joel motioned for him to follow her as she began walking away. Joey jogged to catch up so he could walk beside her. If anyone were to spot them, they would have thought the two were twins.

"After I grabbed my stuff and the rental car from the airport, I went straight to your place. I made sure it was cool with Uncle J first. He said everything is good. So your stuff is packed and in the trunk," Joel explained, stopping by a car parked on the side of the street.

Joey let out a low whistle when he got a good look at the car. It was a gorgeous, light green Toyota Prius C with a sleek body and four doors. Joel chuckled as she jogged around to the driver side.

"Like it?"

"It may be a chick car, but Hell yes!"

Shooting the male a look, Joel unlocked the doors and the two teens clambered in. Joel put on her seatbelt, started up the car, and ripped out into traffic. Joey barely had time to put on his seatbelt. He lurched forward to grasp the steering wheel and jerk it so Joel was forced into the other lane.

"Left side of the road, left side of the road, left side of the road!" Joey quickly exclaimed.

Joel rolled her eyes as she pried her cousin's hand off the steering wheel.

"_I know_. By the love of your Red Eyes, I know which side of the road to drive on," Joel said, exasperated.

"Then why da Hell did ya start in da wrong lane for?!" Joey exclaimed.

Joel turned her head away from the road to look at her cousin.

"Maybe I was checking to see if you were awake!" Joel exclaimed back.

"Eyes on the road!" Joey shouted.

He grasped the bar above him and prayed to every god he could think of. He knew his cousin had been taught by her father and had out been driving countless amounts of time, but he also knew she had only had her license for a month now.

I can't remember why I was bummed about a boring summer, Joey thought.

Joey briefly wondered if he would survive a tuck and roll if he dove out of the car. Glancing at the speedometer on the dashboard, he came to the conclusion that the broken bones wouldn't be worth it.

"So what's up, cousin? You have a good school year?" Joel asked, breaking Joey out of his thoughts.

"U-uh…It was…uh…o-okay, I guess. School was rough, but I got to duel a lot with Yugi," Joey said, his grip starting to loosen on the bar.

Joel rolled her eyes.

"Good old cousin Joey. Hey, what about that jerk you been mentioning in your letters?" Joel asked, turning the wheel to head down another street.

Joey groaned. Did she really have to remind him of the brunette? It was bad enough the other male had been in most of his classes and sat near him in all of them.

"Ya know I really don't wanna talk about dat jerk Kaiba."

**THUD**! _SCREECH_! Joey was jerked forward in his seat and was thankful for the seatbelt which yanked him back into it. Joel knew she could have made the light, but her cousin's response had been quite the surprise. She shifted her head to the side to stare at her cousin.

"Kaiba? _THE_ Kaiba? Seto Kaiba? Duel Monsters Kaiba with the Blue Eyes White Dragons?" Joel asked.

With his heart still pounding rapidly, he could only nod his head weakly at her. Joel threw her head back and laughed. She laughed until there were tears coming to her eyes.

"Oh, cousin! Boy, you sure know how to pick 'em," Joel said, reaching up to wipe a tear from her eye.

Joey waited until his heartbeat had slowed down to give her a response.

"The jerk says I win duels by luck," he grumbled low.

Joel sighed. Would her cousin never learn?

"Don't let him get to you, Joey," Joel said, tapping her finger impatiently on the steering wheel.

Joey groaned. "Easier said den done."

The light went green and the teens were off again. As the teenage girl drove them through town, Joey relaxed and started to speak more.

"So your job has ya workin' here dis summer? Where at?" Joey asked.

"All over town! There are a few select places that the company wants me to do some masterpieces with. They got it contracted with the City for me to have free reign on what I want to do at each location. I also convinced the company to pay you to work with me for any hours you help me out with the projects," Joel explained.

She went swerving over into the other lane, nearly cutting off another car, when Joey leaped across the seat to hug her.

"_Joey_!"

"Sorry!"

"The Hell, you are!"

In no time at all, they were pulling up to a security gate where Joel reached up to punch in a code. The box beeped and the gate started opening. Joel drove through the gate and pulled up to a building within the complex. She parked and cut the engine.

Joey unbuckled his seat belt and followed his cousin into the building. They wandered over to an elevator where Joel smacked the top button. The doors slid shut. As they waited, Joey heard a squealing sound.

He tapped his cousin on the shoulder and waited until she was looking at him to point at his ear. Joel frowned before bringing her hand up. She moved her long hair behind her ears to reveal something in her ear. It was a deep green and had a small, clear tube that extended from it and disappeared behind her ear.

She pushed on the green object, but the squealing didn't stop. She sighed in frustration before reaching behind her ear to reveal a hearing aid. Joel pulled the deep green earmold out of her ear carefully. She detached the battery door at the bottom of the hearing aid and removed the battery.

Without saying a word, Joel dropped the tiny battery into the chest pocket of Joey's green jacket. Then she closed the battery door and slipped the hearing aid into her jeans pocket. Joey brought his hands up and started making big, defined gestures with his hands.

[[[_Italics – sign only, __**Bold & Italics – sign and speech**_]]]

"_What's wrong_**?**" Joey asked.

Without speaking, Joel brought her hands up and spoke back to him.

"_That hearing aid has been giving me trouble. I'm concerned it's broken. I need to send it out to be looked at_**,**" Joel explained.

Joey smiled big.

"_That means I'll have to sign more with you_**,**" Joey pointed out.

Joel formed a fist with her right hand and bobbed it up and down like a head nodding. Joey let out a whoop and pulled his cousin to him with an arm around her shoulders. Joel laughed as her older cousin gave her a noogie. She pushed him off and signed, but with her voice on.

"_**What's up?**_" Joel asked.

Like his cousin, Joey turned his voice back on, too.

"_**I never get to practice except for when I'm talking to you,**_" he answered.

"_**What? No deaf students at your school?**_"

Joey held up the thumb, index finger and middle finger on his right hand. He brought them together like a bird's mouth closing. Joel frowned again. The elevator beeped loudly, causing Joey to startle. Joel laughed and dodged a punch in the arm from the male as the elevator doors opened.

Joel led him to a door which she unlocked with a small, gold-colored key. As he stepped into the entrance passage, Joey realized that it had been a while since Joel's last visit. To his immediate left was the guest bedroom and bathroom.

As he ventured further into the large space, he found the dining room to his right, the kitchen to the left, and a large living room space to his diagonal right. From where he stood, he could see the other bedroom where he knew another bathroom and the master (king) bedroom lay. There was a balcony outside the living room and a longer one that stretched from the first bedroom to the second.

The condo was designed modestly with light, earth tone colors. The walls were decorated with familiar paintings and photographs. Joel turned around in the middle of the condo to repeat her question.

"_**Nah. We don't have any deaf students**_," Joey answered.

"_**That's not normal!**_" Joel exclaimed.

Joey shrugged in response as he pulled the hearing aid battery out and placed it on the kitchen bar counter. Joel did the same with her hearing aid and took out the one in her other ear as well.

"_**I'm thinking we call for pizza and then chat about some ideas for what to paint at each spot,**_" Joel suggested.

Joey was all for that idea and flashed a thumbs up to his cousin.

"_**Good. Phone is over there. You order the pizza while I go back down and start bringing up the stuff**_."

Joey agreed as he went in search of the phone while Joel headed for the front door. He knew just what type of pizza he was going to order.

"No green peppers, Joey!"

And then again maybe not. One thing was for sure. His summer was no longer going to be boring.

END OF CHAPTER ONE

**Note: This link is what I have envisioned the condo looking like: **

/floor_

**Author's Note: Oookay! So seeing as this is my first time attempting to write a Yu-Gi-Oh fan fic I am going to need some feedback. The biggest feedback I want is about Joel's name. I think the spelling may be confusing because it's one letter difference from Joey. I can change the spelling if that is confusing, but I plan to keep the name Joel. Some other spellings I've thought of are Jol, Joelle, Joell, etc. Let me know, people! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Guest: **Oh, thank the Fan Fic Gods! I'm glad you like it. I'm not really sure where Joel came from. I think it just came to me one day when I thought up the story. Plus I wanted a name that was close to Joey's. I want to say I heard the name somewhere, but I'm pretty sure it's just one of those names that came to me. Keep reading!

**Caroline:** Thank you, thank you! I'll keep writing and posting if you keep reading and leaving me reviews.

Key

Speech

_Sign_

_**Sign and Speech**_

CHAPTER TWO

The next morning, the look-alike cousins spent the entire morning driving out to all the locations Joel had been commissioned to work at. They discussed their ideas from last night and determined what would be good at each spot. With her one hearing aid out of commission, Joel spoke with a representative for each location by using Joey as her interpreter.

Their final destination that morning was two new entrance signs to a beach. Joel had forgotten her sketchbook in the car so Joey had gone back to get it. Meanwhile, Joel stood close by the road but a few feet back from the low entrance sign. She crossed her arms over her chest as she considered her options.

With her back to oncoming traffic, Joel didn't hear the limo pull off to the side of the road. The rear door opened and someone stepped out. Joel was broken out of her thoughts when something whacked into her back. The force was small yet strong which nearly threw her off balance. Luckily, she caught herself and twisted around to see what had hit her.

To her surprise, there was a short boy standing there with his arms wrapped around her middle. He had long, dark hair and when he stepped back she noticed he had the brightest pair of blue eyes. When he stepped back, he gasped.

"You're not Joey!" he said, surprised.

Joel chuckled and shook her head. She glanced over his head to see a tall man wearing dark sunglasses standing protectively nearby. It was only then she noticed the limo.

"No, I'm not," she answered.

The short brunette frowned and immediately apologized.

"I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else," he told her.

With turning around, Joel knew the minute her cousin returned and stepped into view. The brunette's face lit up and he darted around her to launch himself at the male teen. Joey dropped Joel's sketchbook and threw his arms up in time to catch the young man.

"Joey!" he shouted happily.

Joel turned around to watch her cousin catch the young boy, hug him and set him back on his feet. She walked back to join them as the brunette started waving his arms around and talking. He stopped abruptly when Joel stopped to stand next to the other blonde. The young boy shifted his gaze from one blonde to the next.

The blondes looked very much alike except for the eye color and the fact Joey was a head taller. Today, they both wore a shirt with a single, wide stripe through it, khaki colored pants, and sneakers. The stripe on Joey's shirt was light blue and Joel's was a dark blue. Joel was still wearing her dog tags and (although he couldn't see it) her right hearing aid.

"Who's this, Joey?" the brunette asked.

"Oh! I'm sorry about that! _**Joel, this is M-o-k-u-b-a. Mokuba, this is Joel,**_" Joey explained.

Mokuba had started staring when Joey had started making weird gestures with his hands and arms. He had noticed that Joey had shifted his body towards Joel and Joel had focused intently on his gestures. Joel smiled as Joey spelled out Mokuba's name for her. When he finished, she turned to face the youth.

"_**It's nice to meet you, Mokuba**_," Joel said, holding out her hand.

Mokuba shook her hand vigorously. In the background, the man kept his focus on the three but stayed next to the limo.

"I thought Joel was you, Joey. I didn't know you had a twin sister," Mokuba said.

He watched as Joey moved to stand partially next to him. Joey signed as Mokuba spoke so that Joel could look at both of them simultaneously. Joel and Joey both chuckled.

"_**Joel isn't my twin sister. Joel is my cousin. You see, her dad is my mom's brother,**_" Joey explained.

"That's cool! Say, do you want to come have lunch with me? We're on way back to the house," Mokuba asked.

Joel noticed the color leave her cousin's face as he interpreted the youth's request. He then turned to Mokuba to answer him.

"_**I don't know about that, Mokuba. You know how me and your brother don't get along,**_" Joey answered.

And that was putting it mildly. They had at least two to three arguments a week at school. Mokuba shook his head.

"Big brother will be gone for three weeks. He's on a business trip. _Please? _I have new video games and everything!" Mokuba pleaded, while giving them both the sad puppy eyes.

Joel smiled. "_**We would love to join you.**_"

Mokuba let out a celebratory whoop before leaping forward to hug Joel. He told Joel and Joey they could ride with him in the limo. Joey picked up Joel's fallen sketchbook and carried it under his arm.

"_Why were you worried about his brother?_" Joel signed as they followed after the youth who was already waiting by the limo's open back door.

Joey tried not to give anything away by keeping his facial expressions down as he signed back to his cousin.

"_His brother is Seto Kaiba. The only reason we'll get away with this is because he's out of the country_," Joey replied.

Joel raised an eyebrow as they stepped up next to the youth. She was now even more interested to meet the infamous Seto Kaiba. The man fought with her cousin and supposedly had a nasty attitude, but how could one man be all that and have such a friendly younger brother?

"This is Roland," Mokuba said, introducing the man that was with him. "Roland, this is Joey and Joel. Joey goes to school with Seto and Joel is Joey's cousin."

Joey interpreted the introduction as Joel shook hands with the man. He could tell by the look the older man gave him that the older Kaiba brother had probably mentioned him.

Probably mentioned me a few times and not in good terms, I'm sure, Joey thought.

Mokuba hopped inside and the two blondes joined him. Roland shut the door and walked around to the driver's side. The engine was started and they were off to the Kaiba's home. In the back, Joey sat next to Mokuba while Joel sat across from them with her back to the driver.

"Does Joey use his hands to talk to you because you're deaf?" Mokuba asked.

Joel smiled. It seemed that the young man was very bright. Joey signed for when Mokuba spoke, but didn't voice interpret for Joel.

"_**Yes. We use sign language. I wear hearing aids, but one of them is being repaired so I need to depend on my cousin a little more than usual to bridge that communication gap**_," Joel explained.

"That is so cool! Do you live around here?" Mokuba asked.

Joel shook her head.

"_**I live in the United States. In North Carolina. I'm visiting for the summer. I'm staying at a condo my company set me up with,**_" Joel answered.

"Company? Are you a CEO like big brother?" Mokuba questioned.

Joey chuckled. He explained that Joel was a gifted artist. She attended virtual school and worked part-time for a big company in North Carolina. Joel added that she had been working with the company since she was twelve (with special parental permission) and was now sixteen.

"That's just a year younger than Seto! What type of art do you draw?"

Mokuba leaned as far forward as his seat belt would allow him. Joel gestured to Joey who pulled her sketchbook into his lap. He handed it to Mokuba who flipped it open while leaning back in his seat.

The drawings were _amazing_. Some of them were colored in with colored pencil or something else Mokuba didn't recognize. The first drawing was of the Statue of Liberty with a sunrise in the background in full color. The second drawing was several types of birds in smaller, individual drawings. The third drawing was of a man who was wearing a military uniform and dog tags.

"_**That's Joel's dad. He's a Marine,**_" Joey murmured, reaching over to point at the image.

Glancing at Joel, the dark-haired boy noticed there was a noticeable resemblance between Joel and her father. He flipped through the next few images which were images of different people that were sketched only in pencil. The next to last drawing was that of a waterfall with a rainbow. The last drawing Mokuba recognized immediately.

"Joey, this is your Red Eyes!"

Sure enough, the drawing was an exact replica of Joey's Red Eyes Black Dragon. It stood tall with its mouth open and a large streak of fire spewing from its mouth.

"Can you draw any of the Duel Monsters?" Mokuba inquired.

Joel shared a secret smile with her cousin before winking at Mokuba.

"_**You bet.**_"

/…/

An hour later found the trio in the kitchens of the Kaiba Mansion sitting down for lunch. The cook was off for the day so Mokuba was having to fend for himself with meals. After being informed of this, Joel had started flittering around the kitchen grabbing things. She was fixing some type of sandwich and cutting up a variety of fruit to put all together in a bowl.

Joey and Mokuba sat on stools at the island chatting while Joel worked on lunch.

"Where is your brother at?" Joey asked.

"He's attending a series of business conferences in London," Mokuba replied.

"So what are you planning to do while he's gone?"

Mokuba shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess play video games and go to the park."

Joey frowned. As much as he enjoyed wasting many hours at the arcade, three weeks of video games was going to be no good for the younger boy. He would have to talk to Joel later about perhaps letting the brunette work with them.

He would probably really enjoy helping, Joey thought.

Joel broke him out of his thoughts by placing the food down in front of the two males. Mokuba excitedly scooped some fruit onto his plate, but paused at the sandwiches.

"What's on this?" Mokuba asked as he timidly picked up one of the triangle sandwiches.

"_**Peanut butter and banana,**_" Joey told him.

Mokuba made a face but Joel suggested he try it before he judge it. The brunette grumbled under his breath but took a tiny yet good bite of the sandwich. He chewed slowly until he realized how _great_ it tasted and swallowed.

"This is awesome! Thank you, Joel," Mokuba said.

When Joey finished interpreting his statement, Mokuba asked how to sign thank you. Joey brought his flat hand up to his chin and then it brought forward and down away from his body. Mokuba copied the motion and Joel told him he was welcome.

The three ate quietly as they savored the fresh and delicious lunch. Joey noticed that Mokuba seemed to be taking a liking to Joel and vice versa.

I can only imagine what Kaiba would have to say about that, Joey thought.

"Are you all done, Joey?" Mokuba asked, reaching his hand out to shake Joey's arm.

Joey finished his lunch in three more bites. He helped Mokuba put away the food before him and his cousin followed Mokuba. He led them upstairs and down the hall to a large game room. It had several game systems, old and more recent.

Mokuba snatched up a wireless game controller and tossed one each to Joey and Joel. The blondes discovered that the short brunette was quite the gifted gamer. He kicked their butts through several rounds of different games.

Joel, however, got her chance with a dancing game that had her competing against Mokuba. The boy had a tough time keeping up with the moves the blonde was pulling off. All and all, the trio had a wonderful afternoon playing video games and filling the room with their laughter.

/…/

Joey cringed as he watched the facial expressions on his cousin's face. She had asked to see his grade report for this last school year. She was leaning on the kitchen bar counter looking over the report diligently.

Joel turned her wrist and pressed it over her mouth as she looked at all the classes and the grades. She knew her cousin wasn't exactly the school-type, but she knew he was no moron, either. She mumbled a few incoherent curses into her flat palm.

Not too surprising, her cousin had done well in special elective classes such as Physical Education (P.E.). That was to be expected with how athletically fit her cousin was. English hadn't given him too much trouble since he was able to obtain a C-. However, the other core classes (Science, History, and Mathematics) had given him a lot of trouble.

She flipped to the next page which showed his freshmen year classes. They weren't much better. As of right now, her cousin's grade point average fell below a 2.0. She mumbled some more unfavorable words before a thought came to her. Without warning, she dashed across the living room to where the desktop computer was.

Joel slapped the transcript down in front of the keyboard and sat down at the computer. Joey glanced across the living room as he waited for the microwave to beep. He wondered what got his cousin all excited.

I hope she's not posting my grades as her Facebook status, Joey thought.

_Beep._ Joey popped open the microwave and pulled out the paper plate of leftover pizza. He started munching down on the pizza as he watched his cousin from across the condo. He knew as soon as she was done with whatever she was doing that she would share with him.

Joey only had to wait a few minutes before his cousin cried out "Eureka!" and started printing something out. Curious, Joey crossed the room to stand next to his cousin. He tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. She looked up at Joey with a tilt of her head. In response, he raised his eyebrows as if asking "What?"

"_**Your grades suck,**_" Joel told him, point black.

Joey put his pizza back down on his plate and signed with his one hand.

"I _**know**_ that," Joey replied.

"_**Have you thought of trying virtual school? Like me?**_" Joel asked.

Joey was speechless. Truth of the matter, he had never considered that as an option. Joel snapped her fingers in front of his face and pulled his attention back to her.

"_**I was just looking up everything on the internet. Your school will allow you to do grade forgiveness if you take the classes you bombed.**_"

Joey wasn't too sure about any of this. He had really struggled in a lot of his classes, but then Joel questioned him further about the bombed grades. He admitted that he had never considered his education to be in a high priority.

"_**Have you told the teachers about your–**_" Joel started.

"NO!"

Joel was only slightly startled by her cousin's outburst. She knew he didn't like to talk about it.

"_**Are you taking the medicine again?**_" Joel questioned him further.

For that question, Joey had to put down his plate. He knew Joel was decent with lipreading[1], but he wanted to even the conversation by signing.

"_I don't like the medicine. It makes me feel…wrong,_" Joey signed.

Joel nodded in understanding.

"_I understand, Joey. But it helps you focus more,_" Joel argued.

Joey let out a big exasperated sigh before his hands went flying.

"_I know that, Joel, but it makes me feel like I'm in a fog. I don't care how much it helps me focus. There has to be other ways,_" Joey said.

Joel signed yes.

"_There is other ways. I can help you work on study tips and then learning strategies that will help when you go back to school_."

Joey's face lit up. Tristan goofed off in school like him, Téa didn't have enough to work with him, and Ryou & Yugi really didn't know how to help him. The two talked about it a little more before deciding to call it a night.

Joey finished up his late dinner and threw away his trash. Joel disappeared into her room and closed the door behind her. She stumbled around the bedroom and through the bathroom. She changed into her pajamas, took out her one hearing aid, and climbed into bed. She turned off the light on her bedside and lay down curled up on her side.

Moon light streamed in from the bedroom window and landed on the dog tags still around Joel's neck. The light lit up the dog tags so the text on them could be read.

**CARSON**

**C.M. AB**

**USMC S**

**CHRISTIAN**

END OF CHAPTER TWO

[1] Lipreading is the ability to "read" what is said on the lips. It is a common misconception that deaf people can lipread 100% of what is said. In reality, this couldn't be any further from the truth.


End file.
